The Father of Modern Military Aviation

Lieutenant General Billy Mitchell was one of the most visionary, controversial, and perhaps one of the most forward thinking military men of the modern age.  He defied conventional thinking about warfare in his era, standing by his views even though it got him court martialed.  Some consider him to be reckless, but he is the father of modern air power and air tactics.

Born William Lendrum Mitchell, Billy was born 28 Dec 1879 to the family of a wealthy Wisconsin senator. Mitchell attended the Columbian College of George Washington University, but enlisted in the Army upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War; however, he was quickly given a commission due to his father's influence and was transferred to the Signal Corps. A fantastic junior officer, Mitchell proved himself by taking on challenging tours in Cuba, the Philippines and Alaska, and was then reassigned to the General Staff, becoming its youngest member. It was here that his interest in aviation was begun, leading to him even taking private flying lessons at age 38.

Upon America's entrance to WWI, Mitchell was one of the first soldiers to arrive in France, serving under General J.J. "Black Jack" Pershing.  He met extensively with leaders from both Britain and France regarding their air power.  Quickly picking up on their tactics and organization, Mitchell spearheaded the Signal Corps' preparations to bring over their own air forces.  In spite of America's mediocre entrance into air warfare, Mitchell's reputation was greatly increased as a bold, fearless albeit sometimes reckless leader.  Even though it took months for the first American airplanes to arrive, Mitchell was promoted from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general, and given command of all American Air units stationed in France.  This new position allow him to plan and execute the air phase the Saint Mihiel offensive, where he commanded 1500 Allied aircraft.  He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, and several foreign decorations for his role as a combat airman, but he was rather outspoken regarding the use of air power, which alienated and offended most of his superiors who still believed ground warfare was the only and best way of fighting war.

Upon his return to America in 1919, Mitchell was given the position of deputy chief of the Air Service, allowing him to remain a brigadier general, in spite of him continuing to be unpopular with his superiors and peers in both the War Department and Navy Department.  He accused them, and rightly so, of being incredibly narrow minded and shortsighted regarding the use of air power.  His intellectual duel with the Navy finally are reached its zenith with the tests of 1921 and 1923, where Mitchell and his bombers sunk several battleships, both ones considered obsolete from our fleet, and once considered top of the line from the defeated German fleet.  This convinced Mitchell and many in the Navy Department that surface fleets were outdated and needed both air power and air defense. Mitchell continued to lock horns with those in the War Department, however, with his Army superiors regarding the airpower.  Because of this, he was demoted to his permanent rank of colonel in transferred to Texas.  Even though this was not uncommon at the time, it was still viewed by many of Mitchell supporters as a sort of punishment, even exile.  In spite of this, Mitchell refuse to remain silent, and when a Navy dirigible crashed and killed all 14 members of its crew, Mitchell was furious.  He sent a scalding statement accusing Army and Navy senior leadership of extreme incompetence and "almost treasonable administration of the national defense." This was the final straw for many in the Army.  Mitchell was court martialed and charged with insubordination, and after a trial in which everyone knew the predetermined outcome, he was suspended from active duty for five years without pay.  Instead, Mitchell resigned his commission, and traveled the country for the next decade promoting the use of air power, for both military and civilian uses.

Upon the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a pro-air power Navy man, Mitchell was given hope once again.  He thought perhaps Roosevelt would even appoint Mitchell as Assistant Secretary of War for Air Power or maybe even Secretary of Defense under a new, unified organization and military forces.  Unfortunately, FDR was never given the opportunity to allow Mitchell into the bureaucratic world of politics, since Mitchell died of complications caused from influenza in 1936.  However, his legacy lived on, raising America from 14^th in world air power to the global force it is today, and he has and inspired countless young airmen, including young Army officer Henry "Hap" Arnold, who would go on to become one of World War II's most influential air power advocates, and eventually becoming the Air Force's first ever Chief of Staff and 5-star general.

 Many would consider Mitchell to be reckless, unwise and even foolhardy; but history tends to remember him kindly, as an innovator, forward thinker and inspirational leader. He was a man who wasn't afraid to stick to his guns and stand up for what he believed was right. A patriot and trailblazer, Mitchell willing to sacrifice everything, even his career, to help his country become stronger.

References

Billy Mitchell. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/mitch.html

Billy Mitchell. Notable Names Database. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nndb.com/people/344/000179804/

William "Billy" Mitchell Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.who2.com/bio/william-billy-mitchell

The Double 5-Star

General Henry "Hap" Arnold was one of the most forward-thinking generals of World War II. Hap was trained to fly by the Wright brothers, a West Point graduate, air power advocate, 5-star General of the Army, first ever 5-star General of the Air Force, first man to receive a permanent commission as a 5-star General, and the only man to be promoted to 5-star General twice. He was a fascinating individual, a great leader, and a brilliant general. But what role did he play in WWII? And how does his story intertwine with the U.S. Air Force's?

Born 25 June 1886 in Gladwyne, PA, Henry Arnold knew he wanted to be a military man from the start. Admitted into West Point, he was soon given the nickname "Happy", or just "Hap",  and it stuck with him all the way through his graduation in 1907, into his military career. He had hoped to be a cavalry officer, but because of a rather mediocre performance as a cadet, he was sent to the infantry. He spent a full tour in the Philippines before applying to the cavalry again, but was refused a second time; because of this, he desperately applied to the Signal Corps, just to escape from the infantry. Finally accepted into the Signal Corps, Hap left his station at Governor's Island, N.Y. and was sent to Dayton, OH, to be trained to fly by the Wright brothers. After several crashes, or near-crashes, the young aviator grounded himself, resigning himself to piloting a desk for three years. He eventually overcame his fears, though, and got back into the air, leading a flight training school in California, and then going to Panama to establish a branch of the Air Service there. He commanded that until May 1917, just in time for him to be reassigned to the Air Service staff for World War I.

After the Great War ended, he was taken under the wing of Billy Mitchell, and began to rise in the ranks. He was given numerous awards for aeronautical achievements, and was given various commands throughout the 1920's. His was also a key testimony in the insubordination courts-martial of Billy Mitchell, because Arnold also shared Mitchell's beliefs in the airplane's crucial role in future warfare. They both recognized the strategic importance of air power, and both advocated the formation of an air arm of the military, separate from the Army. Arnold was the only one of the two to see this happen, however; not only that, but he was given command of this new Air Force. Before the birth of the United States Air Force, however, Hap was given command of the Air Service when the current Chief of the Air Service died, just before the outbreak of World War II. The newly-promoted Major General Henry Arnold's title was changed in 1941 to Chief of the Army Air Forces, and while holding this position, he was given his third star after Pearl Harbor.

Because of his new title and rank, he commanded all the air activities of our nation for WWII, both in the European and Pacific theaters. Under his guiding hand, the Army Air Forces grew from a mere 22,000 men with 3,900 aircraft to an astounding force of 2,500,000 men and 75,000 planes. Despite his nickname, Hap was somewhat of a harsh taskmaster and a bit of a micromanager. He hardly utilized his staff, preferring a very hands-on approach, and even though this was frowned upon, it was his strength, drive and vision that made the Air Forces grow so rapidly. He even took a nearly 35,000-mile tour of Africa, India, China and the Middle East in early 1943, with him stopping to attend the Casablanca Conference. In March of that year, he was promoted again, becoming a full-fledged four-star general. He was promoted once more before the close of the war, and was one of only five men to hold that rank, being among the likes of Generals Eisenhower, Bradley and MacArthur. Then, in 1945, he suffered a heart attack, attributed by his doctors as being due to overwork.

Shortly after this, in June of 1946, Hap retired after earning nearly all the awards a nation can give a military leader of his magnitude: three Distinguished Service crosses, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and decorations from Morocco, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Peru, France, Mexico and Great Britain, to name a few. He was also a bit of an author, writing books on flying while he was in the service to inspire boys and young men to get interested in aviation, and then, after his retirement, he authored an autobiography called "Global Mission". This book is unique, in the fact that not only is it an autobiography of Hap Arnold himself, but it's practically an autobiography of the U.S. Air Force, through the story of Hap's own life and experience. Finally, on 7 May 1949, a year and a half after the birth of the Air Force he helped create, Congress officially and permanently appointed Henry "Hap" Arnold to the rank of General of the Air Force, the first and only man to be a five-star General in the Air Force. It's also interesting to note that he is also the only man to ever be given five stars in two different branches of the military.

Hap died the next year, however, at his ranch near Sonoma, CA. But his legacy lived on, not only with the Air Force in general, but in numerous other places as well: his namesakes include the Arnold Engineering Development Center at Tullahoma, TN, the Air Force ROTC's Arnold Air Society (an optional honor society for cadets), Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee, and more recently, the Hap Arnold Heritage service coat, a uniform jacket currently in testing for the Air Force's dress uniform.

Hap was indeed one of the most advanced and forward thinking generals of his day, seeing the potential of air power before it was popular, and he was a pivotal, albeit overlooked, character in World War II. Without him, Allied air power would have been horribly unorganized, and America's air arm of the military would've been years behind even the slowest nation to adopt it. His nurturing of the Army Air Forces allowed it to grow and blossom into the globally dominating force it is today, the sentry and avenger of America, this greatest nation on God's earth.

 

References

DuPre, Flint. (n.d.). The Official Website of the U.S. Air Force. Retrieved 15 April 2012 from http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=4551

Meilinger, Phillip. (n.d.). American Airpower Biography. Retrieved from http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/arnold.html

Time for a Warm Hat, It’s Going to be a Cold War

Not many people realize how long the Cold War with the former Soviet Union really was.  Many people think of Korea as the beginning of the Cold War, but it actually began almost immediately after World War II. While we were allies with Russia during WWII, it was only due to having a common enemy in the Nazis. However, after the Fall of Berlin, and the surrender of the Japanese Empire, the Soviets and Americans locked horns once again in what has become to be known as the Berlin Airlift.

The Berlin Airlift began when Josef Stalin ordered a complete road, railway and water blockade of the divided city of Berlin. The Soviets were determined to starve the city into submission, but they underestimated American ingenuity and the fledgling U.S. Air Force. At first, after diplomacy with the Soviets failed, there were many meetings of the top military brass, invasion plans were made, and World War III was nearly ignited. General Lucius Clay hade even set up an armored convoy designed to smash through the Red Army’s line, which would have certainly sparked war. But the last minute brilliance of British Commander Sir Brian Robertson saved countless lives: if the Soviets had blocked road, rail and water routes, why not supply the city via the air? This was mad possible by the foresight of someone during the drafting of the agreement the Allies of WWII had signed in 1945: there were three unguardable air corridors, 20 miles wide, to provide access to the city; the Red Army couldn’t attack any planes in the corridors.

The Communists seemed to have forgotten about this, however, and celebrated rather prematurely. (“Berlin Airlift”, 1994)  The aforementioned Gen. Clay looked to General Curtis LeMay to spearhead the operation, dubbed “Operation Vittles,” because Task Force Commander Brigadier General Joseph Smith – LeMay’s second in command – said they were just “haulin’ grub.” (Miller, 1998) However, the British, always the more refined of our kin, called it “Operation Plane Fare”. The determined daily food rations were enormous, totaling over 1,500 tons of food alone, not including coal or other fuels. This was beyond impossible, considering the most copious plane at the USAF’s disposal was the C-47, a cargo plane capable of carrying a mere 3.5 tons. At that payload, the Air Force would have to make over 1,000 flights a day. After doing the math, Gen. Clay knew that the USAF and the Royal Air Force wouldn’t even come close, so both Gen. Clay and Gen. LeMay sent requests for the new C-54 Skymaster , which carried more than three times the load of the C-47.

LeMay then appointed Lieutenant General William Tunner as the director of the Airlift after about a month of operations. After a fateful day of rain and fog over the airport in Tempelhof, Tunner reformed the process of approach to the two operational airports, allowing a continuous loop of laden aircraft and virtually eliminating all accidents. Some of the other changes implemented by Tunner, a career aviator, was to standardize all parts and procedures among the flyers. In addition to switching to the C-54, which could be unloaded easier and faster than a C-47, Tunner ordered crews to remain with their craft. Gen. Tunner was disgusted when he saw how many loaded and fueled aircraft were sitting idle on the tarmac, just waiting for their crews to return from the terminal. To help with this change, Tunner also ordered trucks outfitted as mobile snack bars, staffed by the prettiest Berlin girls, of course, to provide pilots with up-to-date weather information, coffee and other snacks. This alone cut the land-to-depart times to a mere 25 minutes!

Once the planes began this near-constant cycle, a problem that quickly became apparent was a lack of manpower to unload the planes in West Berlin. However, instead of shipping more troops into the city to help, the Berliners themselves stepped forward. They were all eager to help, because the supplies were for them and their families, and Gen. Tunner gave the order that those who helped would receive an extra ration. Since the rations were quite small, this was a big deal. Soon, other ‘bonuses’ were given for a good and speedy unloading, like another extra ration or coveted pack of cigarettes; in fact, the record set by the Berliners for offloading 10 tons of coal was set at just 10 minutes! Many former Luftwaffe servicemen stepped forward as well, to inspect and repair the planes on the Berlin side to keep the fleet operational. Within a matter of weeks, every aircraft that wasn’t being fixed or loaded/unloaded was in the air corridors, which was something not even Commander Robertson could have envisioned. The British even began using their Sunderland “Flying Boats” in addition to their modified Lancasters, so they could land on Lake Havel in the middle of Berlin to provide a third base of operation.

Flying the corridors was no cakewalk either. The unpredictable weather of Germany forced many pilots to “fly by wire”, or merely using instruments, more often then not. The two airports available were equally as hazardous, with one requiring pilots to thread a needle between high rise, and the other required pilots to drop sharply behind a building in order to have enough runway to brake. As if this wasn’t difficult enough, Soviet harassment was prevalent, with Red pilots buzzing and shooting near – but not at – the cargo planes, and Soviet ground forces releasing balloons and even flak in the corridors. When the pilots were on approach to land, Russians in East Berlin would interfere with the radio traffic and point searchlights in the pilot’s eyes, but there were no outrights acts of war, since the Soviets wanted to avoid that at all costs because of Gen. LeMay’s decision to station B-29’s at various RAF bases. They weren’t equipped to carry the atomic bomb, but the Soviets didn’t know that, and weren’t too keen on finding out.

In spite of the difficult weather and Soviet nuisance, tonnage records were being routinely set and broken, and soon the daily ration levels were exceeded to the point of what some would consider prosperity. With the increase of supplies, it was decided that a third airport should be constructed. But there was no heavy machinery in West Berlin, and no aircraft big enough to carry them at the time. Enter American ingenuity once again, where the required vehicles were cut apart, flown to Berlin on a C-82, and welded back together. This also allowed the Americans and British to construct a new power plant for the West Berliners as well. Thus began the creation of Tegel Airfield in the French sector of the city, which allowed for safer flying with a larger runway. American, German and French volunteers started construction on 5 August 1948, with the very first C-54 landing just 3 months later. This airfield actually grew into what is now modern-day Berlin’s main airport. There was only one obstacle to this runway: a Soviet-controlled radio tower. After pleas to get rid of it encountered a deaf Russian ear, a French general – ironically – Jean Ganeval said if they wouldn’t take it down, he’d just blow it up. There were no reports of a stereotypical maniacal French laugh after he said that. So, on 16 December 1948, there was a French dynamite vs. Soviet radio tower match; needless to say, the dynamite won.

Finally, in April 1949, after months of smooth airlift operations, Gen. Tunner wanted to do something big, to break up the monotony and boost morale of the troops and Berliners. He and his staff began planning the “Easter Parade”: an attempt to shatter all records in moving coal. The precious fuel was secretly stockpiled for the operation, and from 15 April to 16 April, more than 12,900 tons – yes, tons – of coal were brought into West Berlin. And because of this massive push air and ground crews discovered ways to be more efficient, improving the overall regular tonnage shipped from 6,729 to 8,893 tons per day! (Tunner, 1964) This was the last straw for the Soviets.

The Soviet blockade officially ended 12 May 1949, but it was decided that West Berlin should still be partially supplied by air to continue a buildup of supplies while the ground and water routes were reestablished. For being such an impossibility, the US delivered over 1,783,572 tons, with the British flying over 541,936 tons, brining the total to 2.3 million tons flown into the city. The US Air Force’s C-47’s and C-54’s alone traveled over 92 million miles over the 15 months of sorties. There were plans to expand the airlift even, since the blockade ended somewhat unexpectedly, and laid the foundation for the modern-day Air Mobility Command with its heavy freighters.

Overall, the Berlin Airlift was a huge success, not only for the tonnage flown into the besieged city, nor because it was the precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, but because it won the hearts and minds of the German people and broke the will of the Soviets. This was just the first of many non-violent confrontations between the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for decades to come.

References

(1994) Berlin airlift. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07 Dec 2011 from http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0807200.html

Giangreco, Dennis M. and Griffin Robert E. (1988) Airbridge to Berlin. The Truman Library: The Berlin Airlift Online Research File. Retrieved 06 December 2011 from http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/

Miller, Roger G. (1998) To Save A City. United States Air Force History and museums Program. Retrieved 07 Dec 2011 from http://www.spiritoffreedom.org/airlift.html

Tunner, William H. (1964) Over The Hump. Retrieved 06 December 2011 from http://www.spiritoffreedom.org/airlift.html